A brand new blog pops up on your site. You wrote it, you posted it…task complete. Check mark and move on, right?
WRONG.
The content you put out has the potential to be a major asset. When used correctly, it will literally raise the value of your brand and account for itself as a worthy investment.
So why are there so many brands who are NOT prioritizing content?
Maybe you’re one of them. Maybe you’ve gotten discouraged because you didn’t see results from your previously written/produced content.
We get that it’s time consuming and you can’t justify cutting the hours out of your day (or dollars out of your budget) unless it produces real, measurable return on interest.
So what if it’s not?
Here are six reasons your content might not be performing like it should, and the solutions that will allow you to yield the fruits of your labor.
Problem #1:
You’re Posting into a Black Hole
Lets get back to the steps associated with writing and publishing a blog. While there are many types of content, your blog is something you deal with regularly, so it’s a great place to start when thinking about the ROI of your content.
What happens to your blog AFTER you post it on your website is more important than the moment you post.
If you believe you’re accomplishing a necessary evil by publishing regularly just to appease Google and the SEO expert in the office next to you, you’re missing something. It is imperative that you track how many people access your content, where it is shared and how often it is shared.
The Solution:
Use Past Data to Map Out a Plan
Regularly measure indicators, and then use results to map out your plan. Where to post, when to post, what to post…these should all be well-thought out and researched using your brands history of data.
Gbox recently put out one blog that generated 3,589 unique visitors and 777 opt ins. The blog didn’t generate all of those leads just sitting there, though!
First, we created something special. We wanted this article to be worth sharing before we ran a campaign on it, so we produced a video and added it to the post. Next, we created a landing page to promote the blog and an upcoming webinar. The ultimate goal of the video, blog and landing page was to drive traffic into the webinar.
AND IT WORKED!
This type of “after” work won’t be something you do for every blog, but it is a necessary part of the content pushing process. Whether or not you’re running a full campaign each week, you’ve got to get intentional about pushing your stuff out there!
The end goal is to find out how many leads your content is generating on different platforms and how that content translates into customers. From here you can decide where your content should be shared and how you can best market it to your target audience.
PROBLEM #2:
The Road is There…But Traffic is Low, Low, Low
If you’re not yet lucky enough to have an SEO-focused team member in the office next to you, you get the wonderful task of being the SEO advocate yourself. Don’t worry, it’s good for you to be this person, anyway.
The Solution:
Use Keywords to Draw in a Crowd
To create effective content, you need to research and use keywords that are industry specific.
Each time you set about to create new content, use that information to choose a relevant topic and keyword for your post. Play around with these and keep track of which keywords seem to bring in more traffic and, more importantly, more conversions.
You want to drive the RIGHT traffic to your blog. The use of keywords can help you target the audience you’re trying to reach.
If you haven’t yet, check out the SEO Yoast plugin for WordPress.
Problem #3:
Less Variety Leads to Less Customers
If your content plan includes a weekly blog…and that’s it…your content marketing efforts are not nearly as effective as they could be. Create a strategy that includes more than just a blog if it is to reach it’s full potential.
Think about your audience and how they learn. What do they come to your brand for? How can you offer it in several formats? Different people have different learning styles, and failing to offer a variety of different types of content can isolate some potential buyers.
The Solution:
Give Your Customers a Reason to Opt In or Buy In
Extended content offers and bonus gifts incentivize your readers to opt in and stay loyal to you. Downloadable items, e-books, and/or exclusive access to special trainings or entertainment in video or written format are all great examples.
This statement may have just weighted you down with the idea of all the new work it creates. Let me make you feel a little better
The example earlier in this blog showed Gbox creating a landing page and video all based around one blog…but that’s not always the case.
You don’t have to create a unique piece of content each time you post to a different platform or in a different medium.
Gbox uses e-books, lead magnets as well as webinars and other tools to incentivize for all kinds of purposes.
There are many ways to take the same content and repackage it for a different medium. If you have several articles, you can turn them into an e-book. Maybe you have some short blogs that can be edited into a video script and produced. The sky is the limit – get creative and build more value out of your previously created work!
Problem #4:
It’s Just All About You, All The Time
What is every human’s favorite thing to talk about? His or her SELF, of course!
This can be laughably true about a lot of people, and it can also be annoyingly true of brands.
A good friend is one who has learned to listen and then, when appropriate, offer wisdom quietly and lovingly.
The same principle stands for marketing. To become someone’s trusted source, you must first listen and answer their question before offering the solution your brand offers.
Be careful not to create content that disrupts the friendly “back and forth” and looks more like a sales pitch than a piece of actual two-way communication.
Solution:
Teaching is Reaching
When your content offers something educational or presents itself naturally, people are more likely to trust your brand as an advisor. This is a huge step towards building a loyal follower and, hopefully, customer.
Create educational content based on your expertise. Gbox is a video platform that allows video creators of all types to share their content and make more money off of it than they do on other popular online platforms. Hence, we regularly give away free information on how to sell videos online.
By being intentional, you can brand your educational content in a way that connects it to your company. Colors, appropriately placed logos and key words are all key examples.
Problem #5:
Your Content is the Last Thing On Your List
The problem with your content being towards the bottom of your to-do list is that it may never get done. If it is getting done, it may not be getting done consistently.
Intermittent posts don’t help your search engine optimization much, and they simply confuse your audience. Readers don’t have an incentive to follow you loyally, since they don’t know to expect anything on a regular basis.
The Solution:
Prioritizing = Organizing
You’ve probably heard of an editorial calendar. You may have started one. It’s time to use it consistently and effectively.
Develop a calendar full of themes that your audience cares about. We fill our Gbox calendar with themes related to video selling, video producing, creative branding for online media, and you get the picture.
Next, choose a realistic publishing frequency. Can you handle two posts a week? If not, only schedule one. Better to over-deliver than under-deliver.
Tip: It’s important to post frequently, but it’s MORE important that you post consistently.
Problem #6:
An’ den??
Okay so I know I already told you to lean towards being more educational and less sales-ey…but there has to be a call to action.
It’s not worth your time and effort to produce content that doesn’t serve a purpose (driving traffic to your site, selling your product, etc). You should leave your audience wanting more, and give them a way to get more.
Hint: The “more” is the solution that your brand offers.
Solution:
Be The Solution
Offering solutions can look different per the content you are creating. A blog might invite comments, an email might ask for feedback (survey), and a landing page might call for signing up for a webinar.
Social buttons are another actionable item and can encourage people to follow you regularly.
If you’re looking for leads, offer a free gift like white papers or an e-book in exchange for contact information.
Now it’s Your Turn
How are you using your content to generate leads? Is it working? Let us know in the comments below.
